My Sunshine
by The wolf in the high castle
Summary: A challenge story for Petalclan with regards to "Gardens." Sunspark shares the wonders of wild life with a house cat named Buttermilk. However, would his clan be so open to their meetings?


My sunshine:

Sunspark expanded his hunting route to the outer edge of clan territory, right along the twoleg nests as he did regularly. He walked close to the boundary, excitement welling as he walked along. Eventually, he stopped as he crossed one garden in particular: the one with a great oak tree inside. He scratched on the fence in a rhythmic greeting.

Outside stepped a graceful, young cream tabby she-cat named Buttermilk. She had memorized the specific pattern he would use so that she would always know to come out in peace and friendship. Thankfully, her hearing was sharp enough to be able to hear the sharp claws raking the wood paneling from 3 doors down. She greeted him softly.

Sunspark jumped over the fence into Buttermilk's garden. When she asked him how his life was, he was hesitant to answer. His brother was injured in a fight against Fireclan, and was still under intensive care. He didn't want that to upset Buttermilk, though. She had recognized the reluctance in his answer, and chose to change the subject to focus more on herself.

"I managed to catch a bird while you were away." Buttermilk announced. "But I then remembered what you had told me, and I let it go." She added on, before he started asking any questions.

"If that's the case, how can I tell you actually caught it?" Sunspark wondered, teasingly.

Buttermilk feigned hurt. "Oh! I have never been so insulted in my life! Are you calling me a liar, Sunspark?" She slapped him across the face with her tail. "You know that I've always had an honest living."

Sunspark chuckled softly, with a small grin across his face. "Of course not. Your integrity is unquestionable. I was simply hoping there was a little more to this story, such as a few scattered feathers? It almost seems as if birds are too simple minded to keep track of all of them."

Buttermilk shook her head. "No, I didn't save any feathers. For all I know, They could be scattered in the winds." She flicked her ears as a cool breeze blew across. "Such as that."

Sunspark then stood up and raised his tail proud. "Well, then there's only one thing to do: we must go out and catch a proper bird." Buttermilk looked at him with confusion, concern, but mostly showing anticipation.

"Really? Are you sure about this? It sounds like it could be a problem." She had concerns. They could only really hunt for birds in his clan's territory, and actually doing that could cause problems.

He brushed off all of her concerns like they were nothing. "It will be fine. We'll make sure no one back home can find out a thing." He led her outside of her personal garden, and into his shared communal garden.

Buttermilk had gotten rather accustomed to seeing the massive trees and plant life that Sunspark would see daily, but she rarely came close enough to really interact with any of the wild prey animals that scurried along the floor. She was mostly a distant had previously helped teach her various hunting techniques and strategies that he himself learned in basic training. While she could still use some refinement, Sunspark had believed that she was a well suitable hunter.

Sunspark kept on searching until he knew that he detected a bird. _I want to see if she's ready._ When he finally came across one, he directed her towards it, and let her catch it. He watched her carefully as she slid across the ground, before leaping over the tree roots, and soaring onto the poor, helpless robin.

This time, she went ahead and finished it off, and brought it back to Sunspark. She dropped the robin at his paws. "Would you like to share this one with me? I don't need to eat an entire robin by myself." Buttermilk invited.

Sunspark was astonished, as he sincerely did not believe that she would offer to share with him. He initially voiced his reluctance. "Well, I'm expected to feed my clan first. I can't exactly eat whenever."

Buttermilk quickly silenced his objections with his own words. "But you yourself swore that no cats would find out about any of this. Were you lying to me?"

Sunspark frantically tried to defend himself. "Well, no, I wasn't lying, it's just that if this were ever discovered by the rest of the clan, it could end very badly." He remembered a horror story from the clan where one cat ate a finch on duty, and was nearly starved to death for 3 days.

Buttermilk came up and whispered in his ears. "But we already know that's not possible, so you might as well split this robin with me. We might not get another chance like this." Her eyes glimmered, enticing him to go through with it.

Eventually, she burned through all of his discipline, and they both split the bird, enjoying every moment. As Sunspark escorted Buttermilk back to her garden, she inquired about some of his own hunting stories, some of which he was rather reluctant to share. After she crossed over the fence, Sunspark turned back to his clan camp, and returned home.

* * *

After he got back to camp, he recognized that the clan atmosphere was very intense and agitated. Glimmerstream, one of his clanmates, informed him that he was to report to Shimmerstar. As soon as he came up to her, Shimmerstar called for a clan meeting. Sunspark was very confused, but he believed that whatever happened, he could speak to Shimmerstar after the meeting.

What she said shocked and concerned him to no end. "It appears that we have a traitor within these walls." Even worse yet, Sunspark appeared to be the only cat who was surprised to hear this. As a loyal warrior, he couldn't believe in such a traitor existing. But his shock quickly turned to despair as Shimmerstar went on to describe his latest interaction with Buttermilk, and how they caught and ate a robin that rightfully belonged to the clan. After going in depth into what they both did, Shimmerstar called him by name as the traitor. While he typically didn't mind being the center of attention, all of those glares certainly got to him.

In a last act of desperation, he tried to deny any involvement, labeling it all as a trick, or scheme. "I was set up!" He cried. But not a single cat was willing to listen.

The three witnesses even went so far as to call him out. "If we were to go to that particular two leg nest, would we find that very same kitty pet that you were with at sunrise?"

Sunspark knew he faced the most difficult decision yet. If he denied that she existed, they would both be placed at risk. If he supported their journey to find her, then Buttermilk would be in serious danger, but if he tried to protect her, his own life would be on the line. It was a tough decision, but Sunspark eventually told them all, "if you want to get to her, then you'll have to pass through me."

The three warriors jumped him, no longer willing to listen to what he had to say. Sunspark fought fiercely, but there was no way for him to win. Shimmerstar watched from up high, and made no attempt to stop them from tearing him apart.

* * *

After clawing them up good, Sunspark was forced to run away. Having nowhere else to go, he fled all the way to Buttermilk's garden. His clanmates pursued, but weren't necessarily interested in catching him. They watched as he frantically clawed at the fence, having lost all sense of his signature pattern. He cried for Buttermilk to come see him one last time.

She came outside, confused as to what Sunspark was doing back at her fence. As soon as she saw the state he was in, her heart dropped. She was astounded that such a thing could possibly happen to him! She instantly leapt down into the forest, whimpering "who did this to you?"

Sunspark was only able to form broken sentences in between his wheezing. "The clan… found out… attacked me." He collapsed to the ground, too exhausted to stand. He felt the energy draining out of him, and his legs went numb. _I guess this is how I die, beside the cat I care for the most._

"Please… don't leave me!" She knew that he was dying, and cried desperately for her house folks to come save him. Of course, now when she needs them, they never show up for her. _This is my last chance to tell him._

 **"You are my sunshine."**

As the sun fell below the horizon, Sunspark's eyes glazed over. Buttermilk swore, to the ground she stood on, that his clan would suffer for everything they had done.


End file.
